"It was Mitt Romney saying, 'I know you have an absentee ballot and I know you haven't sent it in yet,' " Trulen said in an interview. "That just sent me over the line. Not only is it like Big Brother. It is Big Brother. It's down to where they know I have a ballot and I haven't sent it in! I thought when I requested the ballot that the only other entity that would know was the Mukwonago clerk.... It's alarming to me.... It's just not right. . . . It's like you can feel the tentacles creeping into your house under your door."

The calls to Trulen were likely part of the GOP's effort to get out the vote in what the party considers one of its strongest counties. Waukesha County is traditionally a Republican stronghold, just as Milwaukee tends to go for Democrats.

The irony is that the robocallers apparently haven't figured out Trulen is actually a minority in her county: She has been voting Democratic.

110 comments:

I'm getting four or five calls a day from Romney folks to contribute more. I've maxed out what I can afford but they still call. They are robocalls from the same number and usually, if I wait a ring or two to answer, there is nobody there.

The one lady I talked to sounded like she is black. I don't know if she is a volunteer or a paid call center worker.

The NAACP put a "Get out and vote" flier on my door this morning. I live in a predominantly black neighborhood. If they had seen me or any of my family members (the rest of them look somewhat Nordic for a reason) I'm sure they wouldn't have bothered.

But I'm getting lots of pro-Romney stuff in the mail. Some for me, some for my wife, some for my mother (now deceased) and a few for "Resident". Sending those mailings out to "resident" isn't a good use of campaign funds for Romney.

Neither are all the pro-Obama ads the other side's got running on the radio shows of Glen Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity or Neal Boortz.

Research showed one of the best ways to get people to vote was to show who had voted--the psychology is you want to keep up with your neighbors. "best" however is relative, nothing works very well except having a friend or family member ask if you've voted.

The ballots are tracked like ups packages except more detailed. You can opt for email notifications. It's fun watching through emails how your ballot travels. It's reassuring.

* Your ballot is being prepared for printing* You ballot has been printed* Sally is folding your ballot and preparing an envelope* Doug licked the envelope your ballot is in* Hank took your ballot to the post office* Dave the postal clerk sorted your ballot* Frank the postman, substituting for Frances, delivered your ballot.* Your ballot is in your mailbox* Jesus Christ, check your mail already* Your ballot is sitting on your kitchen table* You've mailed your ballot back* Your ballot is received by the post office* We have your ballot back and its safe and sound in a pile* Your ballot is opened, its contents examined, your votes are tallied.* We can't believe you voted for that douche, but there you go, you're done for now. Thank you. Tits.

I just got a call from a woman at the Obama campaign in San Francisco to come down and make phone calls for Obama. I told her, "Nope. This year I'm voting for Romney." She said, "What?!" in a flustered way and we both hung up on each other.

The ballots are tracked like ups packages except more detailed. You can opt for email notifications. It's fun watching through emails how your ballot travels. It's reassuring.

* Your ballot is being prepared for printing* You ballot has been printed* Sally is folding your ballot and preparing an envelope* Doug licked the envelope your ballot is in* Hank took your ballot to the post office* Dave the postal clerk sorted your ballot* Frank the postman, substituting for Frances, delivered your ballot.* Your ballot is in your mailbox* Jesus Christ, check your mail already* Your ballot is sitting on your kitchen table* You've mailed your ballot back* Your ballot is received by the post office* We have your ballot back and its safe and sound in a pile* Your ballot is opened, its contents examined, your votes are tallied.* We can't believe you voted for that douche, but there you go, you're done for now. Thank you. Tits.

" garage mahal said...'m going to be part of entering voter names into an iPhone app on election day from inside the polling place

Democrats have Souls to the Polls. Republicans have Ghouls to the Polls. "

I don't know, garage. In the 1996 election my mother was not allowed to vote in the polling place in the lobby of the building in Chicago where she had lived 30 years.

It was a black Democrat poll watcher who challenged her. Her neighborhood, where I grew up in the 40s and 50s, is now all black. She was one of about a dozen white women still living in a 33 story building on the lake. Her Congressman was Jesse Jr.

Why stopping one 98 year old woman for voting R in that district was important I still don't know but she could not vote.

They could probably use data mining from other sources and say something like:

"While you are enjoying that Digiorno Thick Crust Pepperoni Pizza and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, I'd like to speak with you for a moment about your vote which we're hoping will not correlate with your choice of a Toyota Prius last fall and the Chakra Enhancing Oil you purchased last month online."

I don't know why people get upset about that or pretend to as if they're so important or special. If I go online and search for maybe a recliner then I will start seeing ads for recliners on every internet site I go to and we all know this. I believe people think it is politically correct to pretend to be offended or upset when politicians take advantage of our modern technology.

What I find kind of creepy is how on my Facebook page they seem to know I'd like to meet beautiful single women with large breasts looking for an older man to have fun with. How do they know that stuff? It's like they are reading my thoughts, except there seems to be some interference since the pictures they show have incredibly large breasts, which is not really my thing. Still kinda scary.

I don't know why she would be surprised. Back around 1988 I agreed to help put a friend who was chairing the democrat central committee locally, I was to call people on election night to encourage them to get out and vote.

I only went the first tier, but the instruction booklet that came with it was truly amazing - detailing what to do throughout the night as poll checkers verified who had and who had not voted - the scripts that were provided said that people would tell you they had already voted, and you were to say."Well, it says here you haven't. And we really need you to go vote." It went on from there, and was more and more badgering in tone.

And this is in California, which is never in the swing state category.

The Democrats have been doing this for years and are renowned for their ground game.

To use this to now attack republicans, who have figured out they have to match or exceed the dem ground game is, well, unfair, in a word.

These tactics are all politics 101. It's all just an extension of pollwatching and then calling the friendly voters you know of who haven't shown up to vote yet.

Only now, there's a lot of early voting to contend with. I've done these absentee-chase calls and hated every second of it. Most voters never answer and the ones who do are irate. And these are our ID'd Republicans.

But if the party doesn't do the only things it knows how to do, then they "didn't try hard enough."

Telling them I was from northern ca and we are hoping VA saves the day, priceless!

It is amazing to me that people are undecided.. This one guy from the greatest generation decided yesterday to vote for Romney. He isn't happy about his vote, the lesser of two evils. I did all I could do to give him confidence with his vote.

I was calling all voters not just reps. ..."

Thank God for you guys, and for you especially, Michael K, it will all be over in a couple days.

"You may be being called by some of us in California! We know our state is toast, and we are depending on you guys to save us!

People who are making these volunteer calls are glad that their numbers are not revealed. I hope it's not offensive to you."

No, I had told her I already voted but they keep coming.

I hope that the Romney votes will pull Prop 32 across the line but I;m not counting on it. I was distressed to see NRO come out against Prop32 the other day. What they don't know about local politics would fill a book.

Dude, 12 years ago we had voter files. And some county clerks put your name, phone number, party id, address etc...on the internet (or at least they used to). You'd be amazed what information is available, for free or for sale.

Obviously, it's stupid of a campaign to do it in a way that creeps you out, though.

The cost of the entire state database is $12,500. Four requesters have been willing to pay that since Sept. 1, Magney said: Catalist (a progressive voter database organization), the Democratic National Committee, and data analysis firm Aristotle - all based in Washington, D.C. The last requester was Colorado-based Magellan Strategies, a firm that specializes in "micro-targeting" for Republican parties and candidates.

A Stevie Wonder GOTV concert for Choom in Cleveland was so miserably organized, most of the people there only found out about it walking past.

One of my favorite parts of the Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary Tribute (October 16, 1992)is Stevie Wonder's introduction to "Blowing In the Wind" as he talks about the song's relevance to the 60's (Civil Rights, Viet Nam War); 70's (Watergate); 80's (Apartheid in Africa) and for the 90's he talks about the importance of who to vote for. Doesn't say who, but obviously implying Bill Clinton. (Vote for the one who commits to unity for all people, who commits to open his heart, etc. FYI, I didn't vote for Clinton) Reminds me of lots of things as I lived through those decades.

I like my woman strong and independent. When I see Obama women, I will so sad. Only a GOP woman could satisfy me. Of course, I voted for Romney at 4 PM on Friday last. Well, what are you waiting for. Vote for the man who will never leave a US Ambassdor behind as Obama has done in Libya.

"It is difficult to say whether or not I will win this election. I have tried my best to state that my policies would indeed help commoners, and have even on occasion hypothesized as to what those policies might be. I have made fun of the ocean, and have praised many foodstuffs. I am the right height. And I have brought together all the wealth units in this great nation of ours, who are unanimous in their opinions that they each ought to pay substantially less taxes, and that the businesses they own or own large amounts of stock in should also pay substantially less taxes, and that I, personally, should pay less in taxes."

We're one of the only houses on the street with any political yard signs, and our only sign is Romney/Ryan.

Really? I've seen a ton of local election signs and only a handful of Romney/Ryan and Obama.

I got a somewhat clever political mailing that is some congressperson (looking him up, he is a state congressperson) who spent a whopping 25k traveling on the government dime. The ads look like postcards and say 'Greetings from BOSTON' and 'Greetings from Philadelphia' (i got two different ones) and then talk about how he spent 4k in Philly and took a private plane.

They are mailed out of Rogers, which made me think I'm not even in this guys district, but looking him up I guess I actually am? The the Rogers thing threw me off though.

And then there are people like Michael Barone-- no hack-- predicting a Romney victory. You take Nate Silver's word, fair enough; I'll take Barone over Silver.

Besides all the polls, unreliable & uncertain & conflicting & hermeneutically ambiguous augurs as they are (though enough of the ones I trust most favor Romney that I have considerable hope), there are anecdotal/ gut/ evidence-of-your-own-eyes things when it comes to gauging enthusiasm. Like Romney's Red Rocks rally, or yesterday's Ohio rally before an audience of 30,000. And Obama Ohio rallies of between 2,000-4,000 people. And today's Cleveland Obama rally (including performances by the great Stevie Wonder) that attracted 200-something people.

Anyway, I'm with neo-neocon; I'm optimistic but I don't take anything for granted, I'm anxious and will remain so until it's over.

Not because I care about my team "winning" but because I'm very concerned about the future of the USA.

I do grant the possibility that Obama may win. I think Romney has at least a 50% chance of winning-- but I have no certainty. Have you ever, garage, even once, at any time, even now, granted the possibility that Romney might win? Seems to me you're the one who's always scoffed-- and insisted again and again and again-- that such a scenario is inconceivable, ridiculous, laughable, impossible.

Whoever wins, I think that by itself says a lot about who's in denial of reality.

If you want to learn more about the micro-targeting, you can read about it here.

One of the comments is there are in the thousands of metrics political campaigns use to target you, the same ones that advertisers use. Judging by the lack of political campaigning on the web, it's merely going to get worse and worse.

Really? I've seen a ton of local election signs and only a handful of Romney/Ryan and Obama.

We're a Republican stronghold, not an area in play, and so if you want a Romney/Ryan sign here, you have to buy it. Thus, there aren't a lot of them.

People in our neighborhood don't seem to do political signs. There's us, another conservative guy way down the street, and a liberal guy a few houses down who usually puts out signs but didn't this year. He was a Hillary supporter in 2008.

Why not stick your money where your mouth is and buy some intrade shares? Same for anyone who knows who is going to win.

I don't think anyone knows, though if there is bias in the polls, I would expect it from the left leaning press.

I tend to follow Rasmussen, and he has a pretty good track record. He shows the race as tied up in Ohio and Wisconsin. But having read the guesses that have to go into the estimates, I think it's anybodies guess.

Someone told me about that Lawrence O'Donnell clip where he challenges Romney's son to a fight. I was all, "Oh, yeah okay." I am so sure. Wonder what out of context thing this person is talking about.

Then someone made me watch it. Holy cow! I can't believe that an adult really did that. MSNBC is so raw and wild all the time. They yell, they cry, they run hilariously slanted segments. There could be a DVD collection called Preposterous Things Aired on MSNBC

Q: Nate, baby, what is the score? Tell me. What will be the EC voters for Obama.NS: I know what you want. Obama over 300+.Q: Thanks-Nate!

A few minutes go by: Another call from someone from one of the TV channels:

Q: Nate, baby, we are worried. What's the score?NS: I know what you want. Obama over 300+

The calls keep coming every few minutes. From Chicago HQ, DailyKos, Daily-Beast, Huff-Post.

Soon, Nate gets a call from POTUS:

BHO: Nate, if we win this Mother-F***er thing, you will have a personal office in the WH. You can do anything. Your polls, gets us money, and good coverage from our friends. Every-one is happy that things are just the way we want. So, keep doing this for me.NS: Mr. President, I am at your service.

That's silly; I hope you don't mean that. I've gathered from some sporadic comments that you're actually not such a big Obama fan-- so why so invested in his victory? Does the prospect of Mitt Romney as POTUS inspire that much hate/ dread/ revulsion? I don't get why that should be so.

Ah, so it's about the Schadenfreude (and avoidance of the other side's Schadenfreude) for you. Well, if Romney wins, I promise-- of course I can only speak for myself here-- I won't engage in Schadenfreude. (Exception: toward certain members of the MSM.) If/when the election is called for Romney, I'll be extremely happy and relieved, ecstatic even; but it won't be because others-- e.g. you and other Obama supporters here-- will be unhappy or miserable.

I genuinely believe that if Romney wins, you and all the other Obama supporters here will actually be better off (maybe not in all ways, but in fundamental ways) than if Obama wins. I genuinely believe a Romney victory/ presidency (as opposed to an Obama second term) will be to your great benefit (or much lesser detriment) too, as Americans. Feel free to disagree with my belief; but don't doubt that I hold it sincerely.

I went back and read all of GM's comment -- I don't usually bother to read his unless somebody else quotes them, and in this case I just read enough to see who made the comment about slinking away like a coward if Romney won -- and on reading the whole thing, he's just promising to be a dick no matter what happens, so no change from current standard procedure.

Of course you realize that if Obama wins, not one liberal here will grant you the same consideration.

Oh, if Obama wins, it's going to hurt, and I know the schadenfreudig gloating is going to be insufferable (though honestly the gloating will be the least of my worries). I'm likely to withdraw from the political blogosphere and do my best to immerse myself in things completely non-political, for at least a while.

I think I mentioned this before, but I'm hoping that Althouse will have at least one non-political (or maybe meta-political) post at hand on election night. Say, on Bob Dylan. So that those of us, on one side or the other, who are disappointed and depressed and seek some online refuge (from the terrible news and the Schadenfreude), might find it there.

I may very well keep away from the TV and computer on election night, get somewhat intoxicated, and wait to hear the news from someone else. Then I'll see whether I feel like joining in the conversation to celebrate!!! yay!!!, or commiserate, or just feel like pulling the covers up over my head for a while.

Right now I'm feeling very optimistic. But I'm still a nervous nellie.

PS If Obama wins, many Democrats will be very excited to have beaten the evil Republicans.

But I honestly don't think many of them will be very excited to have another 4 years of Obama. They'll be stuck with a terrible POTUS (and his scandals, which aren't going to go away), along with the rest of us.

In other words, pretty much all they'll have to celebrate is the Schadenfreude. Whereas Schadenfreude is, I think, the least of reasons Romney supporters will be celebrating a Romney win.

(With the exception of Schadenfreude for the MSM Obama-cheerleading squad. That's pretty high up there in my reasons to celebrate.)

I get a lot of calls from Freedom Works and one today from Americans for strong Leadership. The girl was nervous while reading from her script, she sounded African American and she urged me to vote for Romney. The call came from Anderson, IN where there is a Christian college.

Yashu you have a point. If Obama wins I'll be spending my "spare" time figuring out how to cope with the inevitable results. The financial consequences of living in a socialist nationalized healthcare European third world economy will occupy a lot more of everyone's time.

Those FB ads per se aren't so troubling, it's when I put it together with that other FB ad--"Do You Know Anyone Can Look Up Your Arrest Record Online?????"--that I start worrying that maybe those ladies in the ads are underage or something...

Inga,

" Bronco Bama wanted to take your guns, remember?!"

He said so himself. How do I tell which of his public pronouncements are lies?